Savage Crown II

22. Twenty-Two

Natalia

We signed the papers off and handed them back to Elijah before leaving the warehouse. Callum insisted on us spending some alone time with Zoey today and getting all settled in before moving onto next step in with Declan. Clara agreed to spill everything she knew including his whereabouts and whatever  information she had on Declan so after Elijah finished the questioning we would close in on them but the thing that made me the most worried was my family. I had to tell them what I now knew and hope that Gio and Callum could out their differences aside. A bit of normalcy was well needed.

We headed home in Callum's porsche arriving a little before evening. The lights in the house were all turned on as we pulled into the driveway. Ronan and Bianca's driver was no longer there and in it's place was a Cadillac. As we entered the house there were toys scattered throughout the entrance all leading a trail towrds the living room. As we walked hand in hand towards the living room Zoey's contagious laugh could be heard, getting louder and louder as we finally reached the living room. My jaw dropped at the sight.

A large tented pink castle stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the living room that was decorated and furnished in whites and nude colors. Ronan sat reading a newspaper in a rest chair, while Zoey could be heard laughing from inside the castle.

"Welcome back Natalia" Ronan said rising from his seat, walking over to me. He stood tall over me wearing his signature black framed glasses, his brown hair mixed in well with his grey hairs giving him a classically aged look. After meeting Callum's extended family four years ago it was very clear the Clarke's had strong genes and why Zoey took so much after her father. "I was happy to know Callum had found you but never did I expect to be a grandfather now " he chuckled as Zoey burst through the plastic door in a pink princess dress with Bianca following after her.

"Mama you're home" Zoey yelled as she ran towards me and Callum. I reached down instinctively thinking it was my arms she was running to only to be surprised when she had jumped into Callums. "Daddy look at all the cool toys grandma got for me"

"Wow sweetheart thats amazing!" Callum smiled surprised.

"We're glad you're back Natalia" Bianca said walking up to hug me, "and thank you for bringing life into this house" she smiled. "I understand you did what you did to keep her safe but now that you know the truth I know you two will make things work"

"We will" I smiled softly, "Mamá tengo hambre (mom I'm hungry) " Zoey said wearily scratching her eye. " so I see she speaks Spanish" Ronan said proudly.

"Yes she does" I smiled reaching my arms out to carry her. "I hope you don't mind but we went a little overboard with the toys for her. Callum's house needs to be more habitable for a child and we had to make it comfortable for her afternoon" Bianca smiled happily.

"No worries at all, thank you for taking care of her while we were out" I smiled.

"of course , I know you guys would probably like your privacy for the rest of the day, but if it's not too much of a hassle we'd like to stop by more often to spend time with our granddaughter"

"I wouldn't have it any other way"my heart could burst with joy in this moment. I was nervous and worried thinking that Ronan and Bianca wouldn't recognize Zoey as their grand daughter since she didn't follow their first born tradition but hearing and seeing how they already loved and cared about her was reassuring. Bianca reached up to Zoey pinching her cheek saying goodbye. Leaving us to go fetch her purse and coat.

Ronan began speaking to Callum in Gaelic, Ronan's eyes widened as they exchanged words. It had to be about Declan.

"We'll talk more tomorrow " Callum finally shifted to English. Ronan's face relaxed as he looked back down at Zoey and said his goodbyes.